L.A. Community College District cancels housing proposal after allegations of bidding 'irregularities'
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Set us as preferred The Los Angeles Community College District on Wednesday abruptly canceled the bidding process for a student housing project after a developer poised to lose out on the contract alleged the district engaged in “unprecedented procedural irregularities” after competitive proposals were submitted.In a letter to Chancellor Alberto J.
Román and the Board of Trustees on Monday, an attorney for Michaels Student Living alleged the irregularities included last-minute changes in how the district would evaluate bids — months after developers submitted proposals to build hundreds of beds at Pierce College and Los Angeles City College.After the changes, Román ranked CTI Housing as the top bidder over four others, including Michaels, according to a letter the district sent to the developers and a board agenda item description.Román recommended that the Board of Trustees approve opening negotiations to build the housing with CTI, whose executives are Democratic political donors and made past donations to at least two community college district board members.In the Monday letter, Benjamin Hanelin, a Paul Hastings attorney representing Michaels, wrote: “Stated simply, we have deep concerns about the District’s process, and we are evaluating all our options.” Hanelin added that all the developers, taxpayers and students “are entitled to answers as to what went wrong and why.” The board was scheduled to vote on the issue Wednesday but canceled the meeting Tuesday afternoon, citing issues unrelated to the bidding allegations.The meeting cancellation came after The Times inquired with the district about the bidding process.
On Tuesday evening, Michaels sent a second letter to the district, this time lodging a formal protest, alleging that changing the bidding process was inconsistent with a legal requiremen...